Catania Food Part III - Unknown Shop

We came across this shop while we were driving from Sheraton Catania to Centro Commerciale Katane. Check out the link to know more about Shopping in Catania.

The old traditional look of the shop, the traditional way the chicken were being roasted simply attracted us to do quick stopover for it. We just couldn't resist it. The shop gave me a very local feel. Sadly, I did not manage to get the name of the shop to share.

This is what attracted us. This can be easily seen along the road.

Catania Food Part III

We do not speak Italian, and the guy in the shop do not speak English. All we could do was to point and choose what we wanted. Language barrier.

Catania Food Part III: Choosing our food

I guessed we were early for lunch. I noticed lunch time in Italy is around 1pm, but we were there at 11am. There were a few Italians coming in to grab some chicken to go though. The display below reminds me of 菜饭摊 (mixed vegetable stall) in Singapore. I saw that the guys were still preparing more food in the kitchen for lunch crowd later.

We picked a breaded eggplant to go with our roasted chicken. There were so many other dishes that we wanted to get, but we stopped ourselves.

Catania Food Part III - remind me of mixed vegetable stall in Singapore

This is definitely a good change from the usual pasta and pizza that we were having. However, the chicken tasted just alright, was not as good as it smelt. Still, it was worth the stopover.

Catania Food Part II - II Timo (Sheraton Catania)

After an exciting robbery incident in the day, we decided to have our dinner at the restaurant, II Timo, in our hotel, Sheraton Catania.

II Timo Gourmet Restaurant is on Michelin 2012 guide. The ambience was a typical hotel lobby restaurant setting. I thought it was a good change from the other restaurants we been to during the trip.

The waiter popped a champagne while we were checking out the menu. Pretty awesome service! We ordered a few dishes to share.

I can't remember the exact ingredient now, but I think it was a ham and mushroom risotto. Rich taste but not overly creamy. I thought it was a nice comfort food after an exciting day and the cold weather outside. Portion was just right for our Asian appetite.

This pumpkin soup was not what I expected it to be. It was not the soupy kind, more like a puree. It was served with toast. After getting used to the puree, it actually tasted really good. This is definitely a healthy choice on the menu. This was supposed to be starter, we had it as main course though.

I can't remember the exact name for the dish, but it is veal. Personally, I found this dish not very appealing in look, taste was just alright. I would not try it again though.

Lobster Spaghetti tasted great, although I tasted better elsewhere. Portion was small but enough to fill our Asian size stomach. Lobster meat was cooked perfectly and tasted fresh.

It was a comforting meal but was not awesome enough for us to try again the following night. Total bill came up to 88Euros, which was expected as it was a Hotel restaurant, plus the lobster spaghetti we had. Overall, if you want a simple meal for the night, this may be a good choice.

Shopping and Traffic guides for Catania

There is a main shopping street in Catania City Centre, Via Etnea. You will find all major brands there. Beware of pickpockets there while you walk along the street.

The streets were clean and tidy. However, driving and parking were quite torturous for me there. If possible, walk more. Observe how Italians cross the roads, and follow. I noticed traffic rules weren't follow at certain junctions. Cars continued with red lights, pedestrians crossed even though cars were coming towards them. You need to get used to their way of sharing the roads.

Drivers take note that most roads are one way. Don't be surprised if you see a 2 lanes road turn into a 3 or 4 lanes. I like to call it Freestyle Driving.

Once you are there, take a walk to Piazza Duomo to have a coffee by the cafe and enjoy the view of it.

Another shopping mall is Centro Commerciale Katane. This mall is nice to walk around. There is a giant supermarket inside, where you can get pretty much everything you need. There are H&M and some little shops too.  Parking was easy there, shelter made it even better.
It was nice to spend some time there, had lunch and relax.

Credit: Google map

Catania Food Part 1 - Osteria Antica Marina

Our first meal in Catania, Sicily. We took a 2 hour ferry from Malta, and drove about 200km to Catania. More on different parts of the trip later. Let's focus on food first.


This restaurant was not in our pre-planned choices. We couldn't find a parking space, and ended up parking near the famous Fish Market. This restaurant is situated in the fish market itself. While dining inside, you can see the bustling sight of the fish market. Sadly, we arrived pretty late, ended with no pictures of the fish market as the fishmongers were already packing up.

We chose this restaurant based on google map and reviews. Let's get to the ambience of the restaurant. It is a small and cosy restuarant, with around 10-12 tables (square table for 4), very Sicilian decoration. There is a small display of fresh fishes as usual, and a large selection of antipasti for you to choose and take. They charge according to what you take.


They have menu in Japanese and English/Italian. At that point, I was a little skeptical as I was told before best local food will only have menu in their own language. We went on to order Small Fried Squid for antipasti, Squid Ink Pasta, Sea Urchin Pasta, and Grilled Sea Bass.

Small Fried Squid was really good, crispy and chewy. Even my grandma took a few more bites of it. Mind you, my grandma is 80 year old. This is definitely worth ordering.

Squid Ink Pasta was nice too. It wasn't too thick or strong in taste. Spaghetti was cooked to Al Dente perfection. I could taste the freshness of the dish. However it still didn't beat the one I had in Malta. Still worth a try though.

Sea Urchin Pasta was awesome. I could taste sea urchin and light gravy balance out the taste really well. I would go for this the time I visit again.

Grilled Sea Bass was really fresh, but nothing fantatic to me. If you are a fish lover, go ahead and try it. Personally, one try is enough for me. This size of the fish is good enough for 2 to share.

Overall, this restaurant has nice good. It does get a little pricey with the fish though. Our total bill for all these came up to 95Euros, with a bottle of still water, no wine for 4 person. The fish itself cost around 56Euros. Be prepared to spend some money if you are going for fish.

Location:
Go to the fish market and you will find it at a small corner.

Credit: Google Map

Stay tune for part 2 coming up on 3rd December.